Our History

"IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL"

In November 1873, Anna Spafford and her four small daughters set sail for Europe from America on the Ville du Havre. In mid ocean, on a beautiful night, a sailing ship rammed the Havre amidships and split her in two. Anna and her children rushed on deck, but as they huddled together in the chaos, the sea rushed over the afterdeck and fifteen minutes later the Ville du Havre sank.

Of the hundreds on board, Anna was one of only 57 who were rescued, kept afloat by a piece of debris.

Anna Spafford

	Back in Chicago, her husband, Horatio, had been planning to join his family for a holiday in Europe. Instead, he received a tragic cable from his wife: "Saved Alone."
	Setting off to bring her home, he crossed the Atlantic, the watery grave of his four daughters, and he wrote a hymn, "IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL", which expressed his faith. The first verse is the only allusion to the shipwreck.

	"When peace like a river attendeth my way When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say: It is will, it is well, with my soul"

	Later a son, Horatio, and a daughter, Bertha, were born to them. When little Horatio died of scarlet fever at the age of three, it was a crushing blow, as deeply felt as the shipwreck. The Spaffords then decided to go to Jerusalem. In a letter to a friend, Horatio explained: "Jerusalem is where my Lord lived, suffered and conquered, and I, too, wish to learn how to live, suffer and, especially, to conquer."
	In September 1881, the Spaffords and a few friends arrived in Jerusalem. The group, which came to be known as the "American Colony," settled in a house in the Old City (partially built into the medieval city wall) and for many years, lived among and worked for the people there. This house, now known as Spafford Children's Center, is where the work of the American Colony continues.

Christmas Eve 1925...

Bertha Spafford Vester

On Christmas Eve 1925, Bertha Spafford Vester was hurrying home to pick up her husband and children to go to Bethlehem to sing carols, when she encountered a desperately ill woman being helped by her husband and carrying a small baby. The man explained that he had brought his sick wife to the hospital, but found it closed to outpatients because of Christmas. The six hour journey on donkey-back from their village had exhausted the woman. Still she clutched her newborn baby. Bertha was greatly moved by their need and later said, "Here before me stood a rustic Madonna and babe, and, similar to Mary's plight, there was no place for them to stay."

She immediately took action and the woman was admitted to the hospital, but by morning, she died. The next morning, the husband came with his baby and begged Bertha to keep the child. He said, "If I take my baby boy to my cave home, he will surely die." Bertha took the baby, named him Noel, hired a nurse, and established them in the House on the Wall. Thus the Spafford Baby Home was born.

The Baby Home developed into a Children’s Hospital with 60 beds, named after the founding family. In 1953 a grant from the Ford Foundation enabled the Hospital to add a surgical wing. At this time it was the only children’s hospital in the Old City of Jerusalem and it served all of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

After the war in 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, there seemed to be less need for a Children’s Hospital while the financial funding was also not sufficient to continue operating a charity hospital. It was decided that the needs of the local people could now best be served by focusing on preventive medicine. It was renamed Spafford Children’s Center, and operated a medical clinic, an ante-natal clinic and an infant welfare department for weighing and vaccinations.

Through the years there have been changes in organization and direction as it has always been the aim of the Center to adjust its services according to the needs of the people and the available funds. The outbreak of the first Intifada (Palestinian Uprising) in December 1987 and the Gulf War in 1991 presented new problems and has affected the work very much. The increasing poverty of the population due to the worsening economic situation forced many people to seek the help of charity institutions like SCC. Many families had to be supported with food supplies, baby milk and free medical care.

The Social Department, which was started at the end of 1987 with one social worker soon had a waiting list of people seeking financial and social support and a second social worker had to be employed. The violence experienced or witnessed by many children resulted in psychological disturbances, necessitating the employment of a psychologist. Due to the long school closures (up to 1 ½ years) during the Intifada many children began showing problems in their school performance. It was especially the children of the lower socio-economic classes that were affected and we tried to help them with special education classes. The objective was to keep the children in the school curriculum, which would give them better chances later in life. This program has been slowly expanding as the need for this kind of help became more obvious.

Out of a desire to follow up on children who had been in courses of remedial teaching, a variety of cultural activities were started like reading stories, painting and drawing, music and dancing, drama, etc. The program gradually expanded, partly for psycho-therapeutic reasons and partly to enhance the general knowledge of the children and give them the chance to develop special talents.

This led to the establishment of a Cultural Department 8 years ago, starting with the Peace Library as a joined project with the Japanese Volunteer Center for the first 2 years. The Oslo Accords in 1993 brought a few years of euphoria, hope and relative calm, but after some years, without real progress, people became disillusioned and frustrated again.

The second or Al Aksa Intifada that started in September 2000 has been characterized by unprecedented violence with tank shelling and missile bombardments causing great loss of life and much destruction of homes and infra structure. The accompanying long curfews and strict checkpoints everywhere resulted in people loosing their jobs and income, causing increased poverty among the population and likewise loss of income for SCC. In response to the bad economic situation more people needed to be treated free and we had to expand the services for treatment of psychological traumata and stress of children, youth and women with expressive art therapy and counseling.

In the last years a Separation Wall has been built to separate Jerusalem, Israel and the settlements from the different Palestinian areas, incorporating large tracts of Palestinian land in the process. It has separated Palestinian population from their families, jobs, lands, medical facilities, schools and friends. It is destroying the social life and infrastructure, leading to high unemployment and much sorrow.

To provide patients in the West Bank with much needed services SCC has started medical outreach programs that will be expanded with psychological, educational, counseling and creative activities for children, youth and women. In its long period of service to the local population the Spafford Children’s Center has seen many changes and will continue adapting to new situations.

Although current needs are different from the ones when the Spafford family came to Jerusalem, the moving spirit based on Christian values, is still the same. Help is given to anyone in need, regardless of race, religion or cultural background. The staff caring for the patients also come from different backgrounds and work harmoniously together.

SCC today is still located in the original building where it all started. It stands on the highest ground in the Old City just within the walls and from its roof you look out over the city. The location has also its drawback as people have to climb many stairs to reach the center and supplies have to be brought in on the back of donkeys or nowadays by small tractors. However this does not deter the people, who keep coming to the Center.

Our funding mainly comes from Christian and Humanitarian organizations, as well as private donations and (modest) patient fees if the people can afford it. Part of the budget is covered by the local income from patient fees for the medical, educational and other services. However in the present situation with high unemployment the socio-economic situation has deteriorated dramatically and local contributions have decreased significantly in the last 6 years; in this period SCC lost some $ 600,000 in local revenues.

Currently SCC has to depend more on outside funding while also developing new income-generating programs locally. The descendants from the Spafford family are still involved in the operation of the Center, mainly through fundraising, as an ongoing commitment to help the less fortunate in life. The fourth generation has founded fundraising charities in England (Friends of the Spafford Children’s Center) and America ( Spafford Children’s Center Association). The local management and direction of the Center is however mainly Palestinian. The SCC is registered as a non-profit company, and is supervised by a board of directors, chosen by the members, who meet twice a year. It is governed by a constitution and by-laws. It is yearly audited by a reputable outside auditing firm.